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| Greetings, I'm trying to determine when to "top" my tomato plants. I'm in zone 6a in east central Mo. About 40 miles west of St. Louis near the Meremac river. It took a long time for my tomatoes to ripen this year and they stopped growing and were dropping blossoms. Since I started picking at the end of July they started producing again and look like new plants on top of the old ones. Will the new tomatoes have enough time to ripen in this area? Should I just prune the tops now? Also I'm running out of stake, they're about 8ft. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Bob |
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| Here is your first frost date. Depending on what tomatoes you are growing, you might or might not be able to have ripped tomatoes. If weather doesn’t cooperate… The other day, I removed ALL the suckers without flowers. And I keep removing all the new suckers, on a daily basis. Also, I remove branches with leaves that show yellow / brown spots. I don’t top yet, because plants need new leaves to survive. In some cases, when stems lack branches, I use the "Missouri (!) pruning" method: > Thicker suckers should not be snapped off, since could damage the whole plant .If it's thicker than a pencil, use the "Missouri pruning" method: pinch out just the tip of the sucker, leaving one or two leaves behind for photosynthesis and to protect developing fruit from sun scald. |
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| Topping - lots of discussions here about it the search will pull up - is your option, your choice. It isn't required for any reason, it has advantages and disadvantages, it provides no documented gains in ripening of existing fruit and costs potential production, some choose to do it but most do not. I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it and make it worse" school. Dave |
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| Topping, at this point in time/season and your zone (Probably cooling off) is not a good option, IMPO. I would just discourage any new growth and new buds , starting about 40-50 days prior to my First Frost Date (statistical). As I am sure, any new growth and all newly forming buds are not going to produce what I am after (Ripe fruits). Tomato plants do not believe in "end of season and frost" , but as a realistic gardener, I am sure it will happen, give or take a week or two. So, yes , pruning, topping are options depending on your style and philosophy of gardening. |
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| Many thanks for your info and advice. And fast responses! I posted a pic to show what the plants look like now. I've been gradually pulling off the dead shoots while picking. The FFD is 9/28 so I think I'll prune the ends on half and let the rest run wild. Just to see what happens. I'll save this thread and post my results at the end of the season. Thanks again |
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| gbob61, a few suggestions if I may: 1. Next year leave 2-3 main stems. Also, leave a few suckers at the bottom of those stems. Cut the flowers on those suckers. Top the suckers when they have 4-5 leaves. When you’ll remove the lower branches of the main stems, you will still have leaves to feed the tomatoes. 2. Make a better support for the plants. Use a frame 8 ft. high, made of 2’’ x 4’’ lumber, wire / mesh fence - I used both 3 ft. and 4 ft. high - and a few poles, also 2'' x 4'', at least 1 ft. deep in the soil. 3. Use the mulch IMMEDIATELY after transplanting. I used these 2 types of mulch: Fabric and Straw. 4. Spray a fungicide IMMEDIATELY after transplanting. I use organic fungicides such as: Copper Fungicide (Bonide), Actinovate or Serenade (Bayer). Fungicide weekly during the entire season. Spray the top of the leaves AND - more important - underneath the leaves. I use Solo’s ½ gl. sprayer, which has a multi-directional nozzle for spraying from all positions. Do not spray if rain is coming in the next 24 hrs. Spray in the early morning, when it's cooler. |
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| Thanks Daniel, I'm new at gardening and didn't realize the weight of a vine full of tomatoes. I'll keep your idea in mind. I did use plastic with wood mulch and a fungicide when I transplanted. It seemed like the leaves started to die when they started to ripen. |
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| For some unknown reasons, I decided not to cut new suckers / flowers, and not to top the toms. Lets' see how it will work out... |
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| Daniel, it is your prerogative. I suggest that you make a record keeping of the buds started from to 40 days remaining to your FFD on and report, if you would please, if they result in any ripe fruits or anything with slight suggestion of color break. |
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| Good idea seysonn. I'll do it. Meantime I invite you all to do it too. |
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| Seysonn wrote: > I suggest that you make a record keeping of the buds started from to 40 days remaining to your FFD on and report, if you would please, if they result in any ripe fruits or anything with slight suggestion of color break. There are only 78’ F, but the little tomatoes grow INCREDIBLY fast. |
This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Sun, Aug 24, 14 at 15:53
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- Posted by Gregory123 8 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 24, 14 at 19:59
| I have been lurking here for a while, trying to pick up tips and info and decided to join. I live in Oregon and we have a finite growing season, so about mid August I take out all of the top shoots and remove any unset blooms and most of the fruit that is too small to do much. I do this on the indeterminates only for the most part. The determinate plants are pretty much done growing upright by this time, though I sometimes remove unset blooms from them as well and on some plants will thin out the foliage around the fruit a bit to open them up for circulation and allow me to see the fruit better. Does this help the fruit that are already growing ripen faster, to be honest I am not sure how much it helps. But my cages only allow me to grow my tomatoes about 6 or 7 feet comfortably. |
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| I am going to do what Gregory is doing, as of early September. It is documented that during peak growing season it take 40 to 50 days from bud set to ripe fruit. But as the season comes to its end, temperatures drop, days become shorter So actually it will take much longer than 40 to 50 days from bud to ripe fruits. |
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| Seysonn, I am wondering if you saw the word NOT in my post: “For some unknown reasons, I decided NOT to cut new suckers / flowers, and not to top the toms.” In mid September I’ll see what I’ll do. |
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| Daniel, Yes I saw and read that "NOT". I am talking about Gregory123 , in Oregon and myself here in Seattle area. |
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| Greetings, since I originally posted my question here's what happened. We've had a great summer here with temps in the 50's at night and 70's to 80's during the day. 8 days ago temps started hitting 100 and I guess my plants couldn't handle the stress. Almost all the breakers got scorched and I wonder if the green ones will be okay. I pulled half of them will just let the rest run wild. Thanks again for your advice. |
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